After a difficult trading year that has seen losses for CCT and the sp nose-dive to 25p at one point the solution to return to profits may come from the launch of electronic Sudoku games in time for Christmas. Character will launch two Carol Vorderman Sudoku products. For Sudoku fans on the move, there are two handy travel size products: a hand-held LCD game (19.99) with over 750 grids, and a touch screen version (29.99), with over 100,000 permutations of the game. A plug and play version, allowing addicts to play Sudoku on their home TV (29.99) will follow later this year. It won't take many sales to rack up good profits if these are anywhere near as addictive as the puzzle books have proved to be so far.
500,000 sold at guess 5 profit per item would rack up 2.5m, with less than 53m shares that is a healthy EPS of 4p on one item alone and my estimate is probably conservative? They also have licensing rights to Dr Who, Little Britain and Batman amongst others.
Also 70% of these shares are in the hands of Directors, Pension Trusts and Funds and as has been seen in recent weeks, moderate buying has pushed up the share price. It has all the hallmarks of a possible recovery stock as was IDS which I tipped last year at 81p and is now 382p. Not saying this will reach those heights but if Sudoku sells well this Christmas expect CCT to show a good start to their financial year. 2005 figures ending August 31st will not be good but we don't buy shares on the past, there is no gearing and 8m of shareholders funds available.
Take a look. The profits could be more pleasing than solving the puzzles.

Min 1 for mine 2 would be nice

Hi No 10 it looks like we could get there.

Good news 1 here we come.

The Board of the Character Group announces that the Company has today received
notice that 3i plc ('3i') has acquired 11,525,898 ordinary shares, representing
approximately 24.1% of the current issued share capital in the Company
(excluding the 1,000,000 ordinary shares in the Company held in treasury).
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200607181005123457G.html

Finally, people are waking up to CCT. An investment like this is an excellent sign for the future. Wish I could afford it!!!

More buying of there own.

1620hs
Character Group PLC
01 August 2006

The Character Group plc

1 August 2006

The Character Group plc (the 'Group' or 'Company')

Transaction in Own Shares

The Company advises that is has today purchased in the market through Charles
Stanley Securities a further 125,000 ordinary shares in the Company,
representing approximately 0.26% of the issued share capital of the Company
(excluding shares held in treasury), at a price of 68 pence per share. The
shares repurchased will be held in treasury.

Following these transactions the Company has 47,736,659 ordinary shares in issue
(excluding 1,125,000 ordinary shares in the Company held in treasury).

As part of the Group's stated objective to enhance shareholder value through the
repurchase of its own shares, the Directors will continue to monitor the
position and will, if appropriate, make further purchases of the Company's own
shares.

Character Group, which designs, develops and distributes toys, games and gifts, said this morning it expects to exceed market forecasts for the full year after a particularly strong August performance.

In a trading update, executive chairman Richard King said the board now expects a very satisfactory finish to the financial year ending August 31st 2006. 'Trading for the key month of August has been particularly strong and is likely to result in the group exceeding market expectations.'

King also announced today that, whilst maintaining his position as executive chairman, he is relinquishing his role as joint managing director in order to comply both with 'Best Practice' and to take a positive step towards succession planning as well as the general development of the group.

The board has appointed Jon Diver as joint managing director to join Kiran Shah.


The strong performance continues, look forward to the results and the next dividend plus hopefully accompanying sp rise.

I am just a bit surprised that this one has not gone over the 1 mark considering all the good news of late. Mind you this one has had a long history of boom and bust, I remember when the shares where 3+ and-20p

Broker upgrade to Strong Buy and buy tip in Telegraph. I think you've hit the nail on the head Paedar, CCT have to prove history wrong and IMO their renewed focus and in-house development is delivering good profits and growth. The investment by 3i was a good indicator, continued share buy-backs and the next results should drive this further. August trading being strong is a good sign as it is the start of Christmas orders which bodes well considering most people probably have less disposable income than last year with all the bills going up.

Agreed, any idea as to when final results come out?

Last year was 3rd November, as well as results we should also get a view of trading in the all important run up to Christmas. If both are good we may then see this share continue to 1 and beyond.

oops

New upgraded Web Site.

http://www.character-online.com/

Excellent update from CCT.

Trading Update and Board Changes
Statement by Richard King, Executive Chairman
I am delighted to announce that the Board now expects a very satisfactory finish
to the financial year ending 31 August 2006. Trading for the key month of August
has been particularly strong and is likely to result in the Group exceeding
market expectations.

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200608220700349317H.html

Great news. Well done to all at CCT. 1 before xmas?

From todays Independent:

Character Group

Our view: Buy

Share price: 75p (+2.5p)

Six months ago we tipped Character Group shares at 65.5p. Anyone tucking a few away is now sitting on a decent 15 per cent gain, but they are worth hanging on to and should continue to outperform the market.
Character Group owns licences on a number of popular children's characters and games, with most of the manufacturing outsourced to production facilities in south-east Asia. Yesterday's trading statement confirmed a very strong year-end, and with an exciting product pipeline, next year looks like it could be even better.

The fourth quarter of the calendar year is traditionally the strongest for toy groups, and Character is no exception. Given the current popularity of its Dr Who, Scooby Doo and Peppa Pig ranges, it ought to be a very merry Christmas. The last quarter normally counts for about 50 per cent of annual sales. A new toy, the Robosapien V2, part of the company's robotics range, was recently voted the No 1 toy for children in a survey conducted by battery manufacturer, Duracell.

The house broker, Charles Stanley, increased its full-year, pre-tax profits forecast to 5m, giving per-share earnings of 6.74p for 2006. If those numbers are hit, which now looks very likely, the shares still trade on an undemanding multiple of just 11 times, falling to just 8.3 times forecast 2007 earnings. With a healthy dividend yield of 4 per cent, that is too cheap, and the shares deserve a further re-rating.

Winners of Best Licensed Toys or Games Category and The Innovation Award

Character not only won the category of Best Licensed Toys or Games Range but it
was also presented with 'The Innovation Award', which was given in recognition of the
high standards of technical achievement attained in its Doctor Who Radio
Controlled Dalek. The award was presented by comedian and TV impressionist
Alistair McGowan.

http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200609200700241831J.html

Two share buy backs today'


Character Group PLC
27 September 2006


The Character Group plc

27 September 2006


The Character Group plc (the 'Group' or 'Company')

Transaction in Own Shares

The Company advises that it has purchased in the market through Charles Stanley
Securities 404,322 ordinary shares in the Company, representing approximately
0.84% of the issued share capital of the Company (excluding shares held in
treasury), at a price of 75 pence per share. The shares repurchased will be held
in treasury.

Following these transactions the Company has 47,641,837 ordinary shares in issue
(excluding 1,529,322 ordinary shares in the Company held in treasury).

The Company enters a close period tomorrow, pending the announcement of its
results for the year ended 31 August 2006 (which it is anticipated will be made
on 28 November 2006), and is not permitted to make further purchases of its
shares during this time. However, as part of the Group's stated objective to
enhance shareholder value through the repurchase of its own shares, the
Directors will continue to monitor the position and will, if appropriate
following the preliminary announcement of its results, make further purchases of
the Company's own shares.

Character Group PLC
27 September 2006


The Character Group plc

27 September 2006


The Character Group plc (the 'Group' or 'Company')

Transaction in Own Shares


The Company advises that it has today purchased in the market through Charles
Stanley Securities an additional 225,000 ordinary shares in the Company,
representing approximately 0.47% of the issued share capital of the Company
(excluding shares held in treasury), at a price of 75 pence per share. The
shares repurchased will be held in treasury.

This follows on from the buy-back of 404,322 ordinary shares disclosed earlier
today and brings the total number of shares purchased by the Company in the last
24 hours to 629,322, representing approximately 1.3% of the current issued share
capital (excluding shares held in treasury). Since June 2006, the Company has
bought back in total 5,819,322 shares representing approximately 12.27% of the
current issued share capital (excluding shares held in treasury).

Following these transactions the Company has 47,416,837 ordinary shares in issue
(excluding 1,754,322 ordinary shares in the Company held in treasury).

The Company enters a close period tomorrow, pending the announcement of its
results for the year ended 31 August 2006 (which it is anticipated will be made
on 28 November 2006), and is not permitted to make further purchases of its
shares during this time. However, as part of the Group's stated objective to
enhance shareholder value through the repurchase of its own shares, the
Directors will continue to monitor the position and will, if appropriate
following the preliminary announcement of its results, make further purchases of
the Company's own shares.

Good post on another board.

http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=10249199

About time CCT has finally woke up 9% up.

An example of whats being said on advfn at the moment:



fido - 3 Nov'06 - 20:51 - 775 of 779 edit


When this was Toy Options it went on to 4.80.
They had a script issue to bring on the Italian investors which doubled the amount of shares in issue, so effectivley the top SP was 2.40.
However, if you compare the Character Group of today with the Toy Options of yesterday then I think you will agree that we have a much stronger company than then. Therefore, unless we get taken out by a bid I see no reason why in time we cannot surpase those previous levels.

friars2 - 3 Nov'06 - 20:55 - 776 of 779


In Smyth toy shops the robots are flying out the doors, they can't keep the shelves full.

Cr4zyness - 3 Nov'06 - 21:03 - 777 of 779


CCT boats come in, LOL

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23372625-details/World's%20biggest%20ship,%20SS%20Santa,%20on%20way%20to%20Britain%20with%20Christmas%20presents/article.do


http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,1934774,00.html

Christmas is coming - and it's coming from China


John Vidal
Monday October 30, 2006
The Guardian


The biggest ship afloat is due to arrive in Felixstowe, Suffolk, this week on its maiden voyage from China with nearly 45,000 tonnes of Christmas presents and fare for the holiday season.
The Emma Maersk, which is 400 metres long (1,300 ft), 56 metres wide and 60 metres tall, and dubbed the SS Santa, will unload more than 3,000 containers for supermarkets and stores before heading to mainland Europe.

But the ship and its cargo of crackers, DVD players, toys, puzzles and clothes was the subject of an intense row yesterday over the increasing number of imports from China.

Caroline Lucas, Green MEP for south-east England, said it was a "microcosm of globalisation gone mad".
"All these goods could have been made in Europe. Whole sectors of global trade are now being dominated by China," she said. "The real cost of the goods that the Emma Maersk is bringing in should include the environment, the markets destroyed in developing countries and the millions of jobs lost."

Britain exported more than 2.8bn of goods to China last year but imported nearly 16bn, a 30-fold increase on 1980. The UK is Europe's third biggest trading partner with China but in global terms represents less than 2% of China's trade.

The ship's owners, Maersk, are building another seven giant container ships like the Emma Maersk. A spokesman for the company said yesterday that "there are an awful lot of containers full of toys and games aboard. This is the busy season for importing goods for the high street shops for Christmas and the content of the containers reflect this. From MPS players to socks, to Christmas gift boxes, decorations and crackers, all our gifts are arriving from China and some of our Christmas fare too".



fido - 3 Nov'06 - 21:57 - 778 of 779 edit


Caroline Lucas as an MEP should have the sence to realise that it is those very Chinese imports that have kept inflation low in this country for so many years. How many of us paid 40 for a drill that we can now buy for 9.75.
Of more relevance to CCT is the fact that CCT would be worth bidding for just for its distribution network alone. CCT have won praise from retailers for their ability to get their goods to market. The result has been a higher profile in stores like Toys R Us. That distribution expertise would be worth a tidy sum to a bidder wanting a distribution network for its goods. Also keep in mind that CCT continue to build up their distribution network in Europe.
One further point is that these robots are far from cheap, and if they are indeed flying off the shelves then I think all expectations of turnover and profits are going to be beaten.
Anyone who remembers Hornby of old will remember that it was the outsourcing of its goods to China that was the making of it.
In CCT we have what is increasingly being seen by the market as being a master in sourcing and distributing the goods that people want to buy. As I said before that will be rewarded intime by the market with a PE similar to hornby and any company that can see that now is going to want to take them out.